Diagnosed 10/19 Using Novolin N - Need advice please

Hello! Lizzy was diagnosed on 10/19.
I'm still learning how to use the testing graph. I had been using a blank spreadsheet for 2 days.

Originally tested at 586 & was given 1.5 units Novolin N.

Anyways... She was doing great but I think I made a mistake to up it to 2 units because now her numbers are actually higher? I read on a post that the body has higher BG if the dose is too high.

When she wants to eat it's never the right time. So my numbers are really off because of that I think. So please correct me if I'm wrong on this....

1. I test when she hasn't eaten for at least 2 hours.

2. Then I give her food 1/2 hour before testing then administering insulin.

3. Test 2 hours, 4 & 6 after giving insulin?

I'm so sorry I sound so stupid. I've been crying & not getting much sleep. I ran out of test strips for AlphaTrak2 so I couldn't test for 12 hours which scared me to death.
The vet prescribed Freestyle Lite strips which work in the AlphaTrak2 meter. which thank God I had a coupon for so they were 75% off. If anyone wants the coupon info Lmk. Maybe that's why the numbers are higher is cause of the strips? I wasn't able to save a strip to compare.

I will work on understanding the chart so that I can post her numbers. Btw I'm in Arizona.

 

Hi, welcome to you and Lizzy. BTW what shall we call you? Do you have our spreadsheet set up? If not and you need help, just ask and someone will do it for you. Here is some info to help you understand it
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/understanding-the-spreadsheet-grid.156606/
The freestyle lite strips should work fine in the AT2 meter, many of our members use them. To answer your questions, yes always test before you shoot and Lizzy hasn't eaten for two hours. Then feed her and give the shot 30 minutes after. Then if you can get the 2,4,6 tests and even 8&10 that would be great. You won't have to test that much everyday, but at least every preshot(PS) and some mid cycle tests are good.

 

The routine for your insulin is:
Test
Feed
Wait 30 minutes for the food to hit before giving NPH
Shoot
If available, get mid-cycle checks between +3 to +6, as the nadir (lowest glucose post-shot) is usually in that period.
On a day when home, you might run a curve, testing every 2 hours, or a mini-curve testing every 3 hours, to get a more full picture of how the insulin works for her.

When you have a moment, could you add a few tidbits to your signature? It will help us give you feedback.

Editing your Signature

In the upper right corner of the screen, within the dark blue bar, you will see ID, Inbox, and Alerts

Click on your ID.

On the left, under Settings, Click on Signature.
This is where you will put information that helps us give you feedback. You are limited to 2 hard returns, so separate pieces by | or -.
This is where you paste the link for your spreadsheet, once it is set up.
Add any other text, such as your name | cat's name | date of Dx (diagnosis) | insulin | meter general location (city and state/province) any other pertinent issues like if there are any food issues, history of DKA, hepatic lipidosis, pancreatitis, allergies, IBD, etc.

Click the Save Changes button at the bottom.

 

Ok thanks so much! My name is Rochelle. My NFC is Lizzy.
I've downloaded the spreadsheet and now that I have strips I'll be able to figure out what's going on.

 

Hi Rochelle and stunning Miss Lizzy! Welcome!

Now that's you've blubbered and worried for a while, that's enough - we all arrived here wearing those same shoes. Diabetes is very manageable. You've already got a good start - way to go! What are you feeding her? Diabetics need to be on a low carb diet.

The spreadsheet may LOOK a bit confusing at first but it's really not. AMPS/PMPS just means your 'AM (Morning) Preshot' test number, PM (Evening) Preshot test number. We have members worldwide so clock times don't mean anything - to solve that, we use the '+1/+2/+3,etc as number of hours for that test since you gave the shot. Shot at 8am, tested at 2pm - that would be in the +6 cell. See? Not complicated. It changes colors automatically.

HUGS! And welcome again!

 

I am actually feeding her fresh salmon, tuna (i know it's not recommended) cooked prawns & only 1/4 cup dry Royal Canin Maine Coone food. When I've looked at the analysis it's much healthier than what they prescribed me. Because she's a Norwegian Forest cat I've always had her on a low carb food that's high in omega 3's and has good ingredients.
I was horrified when I read the ingredients in the food they prescribed me!!!

I'll look up posts on making fresh food. She loves broccoli with unsalted butter, grilled plain chicken, peanut butter, cooked prawns, salmon... I'm thinking of making her wet food. She has ALWAYS refused to eat all wet canned food. So I'll have to do research & get creative.

Now that I have strips I can finally test more frequently & see what's going on. It seems that Lizzy isn't dropping in numbers until after 4-6 hours.

Thanks for your help!!!

 

BTW, really proud of you for jumping right into home testing!!!! It is so use and important. So far adwdiabetes.com is the cheapest place I've found for alphaTrak strips. With a $5 coupon code it's $48 per bottle.


When you get a chance at up your signature with a link to your ss so we can see your numbers.

 

Hi Rochelle and Lizzy. This is a small but friendly group. The higher numbers may be because the increased dose dropped Lizzy's numbers lower than she is used to and her body did a little panic and released extra glucose to compensate - what we call a bounce. Bounces usually clear on their own but can take up to three days. If you can get your signature and spreadsheet link up we can have a look at her numbers and see what we think. Sometimes it is the sign of too high a dose but without seeing her numbers we can't really comment.

 

Hi Rochelle, when you get a chance read this http://www.catinfo.org
It gives you ideas to transition your kibble addict to wet food as well as recipes for a homemade diet.

 

Thanks I'll be totally doing that!! I think it's cute I can make her faves. For the vet I make them doggie treats that are super healthy with our mesquite powder my dad harvests. Bust most of the employee eats them.

 

Annecdotal reports on this forum note drops of 100-200 mg/dL in glucose level and dose reductions by 1-2 units of insulin when changing from high carb food to low carb canned food. This is part of the reason to make such changes gradually - 20-25% different per day. The other reason to do so gradually is to avoid GI upsets (vomiting, diarrhea) and food refusals.

 

She

She has dropped from 586 to a quite steady 240 range. Her particular dry food is very high protein. And 10 kibble isn't affecting it. She's eating fresh salmon, cooked prawns, chicken & broccoli so I'm anxious to see how she responds. But she's a hungry baby again and until I can try more cooked chicken & rabbit she needs to eat some.

 

She's also taking supplements plus taking 1/4 tsp Orac Energy Greens which helped her excessive thirst & peeing even before we were able to get to the vet.

 

You may not be feeding a cat-balanced diet which could cause problems down the road.
Take a look at the recipe for raw at Cat Info to see some of the nutrients added to make it nutritionally complete. See also Allnutrin and BalanceIT

 

I've been in touch with someone who's been doing this for years. Fortunately he has looked at the contents and she's been really lowering her numbers and still eating her food. Thanks for your advice. I've looked into the ingredients and what was prescribed is much worse than she was eating already. She only eats 1/4 cup per day but the nutrients are better than the diabetic food prescribed. I'm hoping it's only because of the steroids that have caused her BG numbers to spike. She's lowering her numbers daily so I'm so thrilled! Ty

 

She eats only "cooked" food once per day. She really doesn't eat much. But adding her dry food back has really lowered her numbers. It's a really good food.

 

How are you getting on with getting her spreadsheet set up? That is going to be very useful for us to see.

 

I still have to transfer the spreadsheet onto the one given. I'll have to work backwards cause I didn't put the dates down. She's been around 250 avg and was even 159 tonight! The specialist in working with thinks that the steroids are still affecting her. She's been lookimg perky and a lot more normal!!

 

Welcome and great job on starting home testing. That can be a life-saver with our furbabies.

If your kitty was previously on steroids and they have been discontinued, it can take up to a month for the effects of the steroids to completely clear the body. Because of that and the fact that you are switching to a lower carb food, it is important that you do careful monitoring of the glucose numbers. There was another member in a similar situation...coming off steroids and changing the diet...whose kitty responded very well to the changes and was able to go off insulin in less than 2 months. This may not necessarily be the case with your Lizzy but just to let you be aware that these sort of changes can have a big impact with some kitties.

Once you have your spreadsheet set up and the data entered it will show a much clearer picture on how Lizzy is responding to the insulin and the changes you are making,

 

Hi Lizzy,
My little guy recently got diagnosed with diabetes. I just purchased the AlphaTrak2 and was looking into using the Freestyle Lite test strips because they are more cost effective. Are you still using the FL strips with your AT2? If so, I am wondering what "number" you programmed your AT to? I currently have it programmed on #7 as I am still using the AT test strips that came in the box. Do I need to change the number with the FL strips or did you just keep the number 7? Any help would be appreciated! Also, would love that coupon if it hasn't expired. Thank you! - Deena and Malby

 

I've replied on the other thread.